The statistics are stagger- ing. Average age of first exposure to internet por- nography: 11 years old.

Number of websites devoted to
pornography: 4. 2 million (www.

FamilySafeMedia.com).

Pornography’s accessibility –
available at a click of a keyboard –
and its affordability – free to those
who know how to find it – adds to
the enormity of the problem. So
does its highly addictive nature.

Christians access online pornography to disturbing degrees. In fact,
statistics show the use of pornography by regular church attenders
mirrors that of the general population. Covenanteyes.com, an internet accountability and filtering
system, reports 50 per cent of all
Christian men and 20 per cent of
all Christian women say they are
addicted to pornography.

Addiction to pornography is a
particularly disturbing dimension
of this issue for teens, as more and
more young people are exposed to
online pornography at younger
and younger ages. Experts point to
the release of the neurotransmit-

“It’s time for us to
address internet
pornography
for the lie that it
is – a tsunami of
sexualized, violent
images meant
to entrap our
children and teens
into believing that
this is normal
sexual behaviour.

Pornography
is one of the
greatest negative
influences in
today’s culture.

We need to
take action by
addressing this
as a public health
issue.”

glENdyNE gERRaRd,director
of Defend Dignity
( www.DefendDignity.ca)

AT ISSUEour big, big pornographyproblemAs Canadians access online pornography more and more – andat younger and younger ages – we need to understand the enormityof the problem to begin to find a solution

What can you do . . .

Understand this issue. There is abundant information about
pornography and its dangers online. Have honest conversations
with the teens and children in your life, alerting them to the lifelong
consequences of exposing themselves to online pornography.

Connect the dots between pornography and other issues like human
trafficking and prostitution at www.theEFC.ca/pornography

11

YEARS OLd

average age of
first internet
exPosure to
PornograPhy

Please pray for the public policy work ofThe Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. Youcan also support it financially at www.theEFC.ca/donate or toll-free 1-866-302-3362. Read more ofthese columns at www.faithtoday.ca/AtIssue.

ter dopamine in the brains of
teenagers when they engage in
stimulating or potentially addictive activities like viewing pornography. The brains of teenagers are
particularly vulnerable to addiction and rewiring because their
brains have not yet fully developed,
creating a vicious cycle of addiction that could negatively impact
a teen’s sexuality for life (www.